During my placement, I have learnt more about what the charity does and how it runs day-to-day. I’ve made social media posts, interviewed local writers who have taken part in the Melbourne Virtual Writers Residency and been writing a report on the accessibility of the City of Literature website. You can read my blog on Alison Moore here, and Andrew Tucker Leavis here
I am autistic and have ADHD and so don’t find work and daily life that easy! Luckily, the City of Literature team have been really supportive of my requirements in ways that I don’t think all workplaces would be. I have also had meetings with Trevor, one of the City of Literature’s trustees, who is autistic and trains and consults on neurodiversity. This has opened me up to the fact that older neurodivergent people are openly existing and how they are coping with life, which gives me hope for my future.
I also had the opportunity to have a conversation with theatre critic Holly Williams, in which I learnt much about the industry and finding a career in it and I attended a symposium about New Perspectives Theatre Company at the Nottingham Playhouse.
I enjoyed these parts of the internship in particular as my main area of interest is theatre, something that is a vital part of our societies and something which can be both activism and entertainment. This has a huge crossover into literature, and is the reason why I enjoy both and the analysing of and critiquing of them. During my internship I gathered ideas on this crossover.
One of Nottingham’s most prolific playwrights is James Graham, who won their second Olivier Award last year for their play Dear England, which will be touring to Nottingham in September. One of their new plays, Punch, premiered at the Nottingham Playhouse last May and is currently playing Off-West End, before transferring to the West End this autumn. A Broadway production is also slated!
Many pieces of literature have also inspired theatrical productions through adaptation, such as A Thousand Splendid Suns, by Khaled Hosseini, The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, by C.S. Lewis, and even Fiddler on the Roof is based on ‘Tevye the Dairyman’ and other short stories by Sholem Aleichem. All of these pieces of theatre you can see in Nottingham this year!
My time at Nottingham City of Literature has taught me a lot about what is good for me in a professional work setting and I thank all of the City of Literature team for the help that they’ve given me!
Benjamin Bailey is a second year student at Nottingham Trent University.